The Red Cross’s Jewish Problem
Avram took his wife Sarai, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their wealth they had amassed, and the souls they made in Charan; and they left to go toward the Land of Canaan, and they came to the Land of Canaan.1
The history of the world is divided into three eras: two thousand years of confusion, two thousand years of Torah, and two thousand years of the era of Mashiach.2 The two thousand years of Torah began not with the acceptance of the Torah at Mount Sinai, but with “the souls Avraham made in Charan,” a reference to the converts he drew beneath the wings of the Shechinah (the Divine Presence).
Avraham was credited with being the first to spread God’s wisdom in the world, thereby drawing the era of confusion to an end. However, he was not the first to study or teach Torah. Noah also studied Torah. (Otherwise, he could not have distinguished between the pure and impure animals, to know how many of each to take into the ark.3) Shem and Eiver also studied Torah, and even established Torah academies where Avraham himself studied. Accordingly, Avraham seems no more than a link in the chain of Torah study that stretches all the way back to Adam. Why is he credited with inaugurating a new era of Torah?
Rabbi Yosef Karo explains in his commentary on the Rambam: “Shem and Eiver revealed to their students the ways of God, but they were never inspired to call out to the world as did Avraham. Therefore, his merit was greater than theirs.”4
The spiritual leaders who preceded Avraham did no more than allow any who were so inclined to come and learn from them, to drink from the proverbial waters of Torah. However, the wellsprings of Torah never spread outside the Beis Midrash, the study hall. No one ever took the Torah and carried it out into the streets and marketplaces to disseminate its wisdom, until Avraham arose and proclaimed, “There is a Master of the Palace,” and gathered throngs of followers to his banner.
The Rambam writes: Avraham arose and began to call out to the world in a great voice, proclaiming the existence of a single God of the entire world, Whom alone it is fitting to serve. He would travel from city to city, from country to country, gathering crowds as he went, until he reached the Land of Canaan, as it is written, “There he called in the Name of Hashem, God of the world.” When people would approach to ask about his message, he would explain to each according to his wisdom, guiding him back to the path of truth. Eventually, he gathered a following that numbered tens of thousands. These were the members of Avraham’s household. He planted the roots of faith in their hearts, authored books, and passed the tradition on through his son, Yitzchak.5
By spreading God's wisdom beyond the walls of the Beis Midrash, Avraham began a new era of Torah, which shone like the dawn, shattering the darkness and confusion of the night that preceded it. In this merit, Avraham earned the title of “God's beloved.”6 He sealed a covenant with God that would last throughout the generations.
